


Abra Kadabra Alakazam

by FarishtaFyre



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Characters Playing Pokemon GO, Cheesy, Fluff, I didn't reference it but Arthur probably likes Charmander, Insecure Merlin (Merlin), Kissing, M/M, Merlin likes Bulbasaur, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), One Shot, Pokemon, Pokemon GO - Freeform, Pokemon References, Rain, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 16:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23850223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FarishtaFyre/pseuds/FarishtaFyre
Summary: It’s community day for Pokémon Go players! Groups of dedicated trainers grab their phones and portable chargers at the chance to catch the strongest and shiniest (literally) version of the featured Pokémon.When Merlin and his friends encounter another group of Pokémon Go players, somehow competitiveness morphs into heartfelt feelings. It must be nothing short of magic.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 55





	Abra Kadabra Alakazam

**Author's Note:**

> Today (4/25) was Abra Community Day in Pokemon Go and this fic came to me in a vision while hunting down shiny Abras.

“Merlin, come on! I want to catch a few shinies before the weather starts to get bad!” Gwen exclaimed, tapping the soles of her feet against the carpeted floor. Merlin scrambled around his room, swearing under his breath. He had specifically put aside his portable charger last night and yet somehow it had gone missing. Sighing, Merlin took a few deep breaths. He had read once that when stress got too overwhelming—taking deep breaths helped to restore the thinking parts of our brain. Now, Merlin didn’t know if that was anything more than a village myth that his mother had heard. Yet he always found it helpful to pause everything around him when he got stressed.

Merlin finished taking his third deep breath. When he shook his hands to ward off some of the anxiety, his portable charger suddenly appeared from the corner of his bedsheet. Merlin swore it was like magic because he would swear that he had checked that exact spot at least seven times before it appeared. Stuffing his phone into his pocket, Merlin called back to his best friend as he exited his bedroom.

“I’m here, I’m here!” Merlin exclaimed. Gwen smiled excitedly as she moved from her slanted position against the wall. Linking their arms together, Gwen led the way out of Merlin’s apartment. Their plan was to hit the nearby park that had a lot of Pokestops. According to Gwen’s boyfriend, Lance, that’s where the Pokémon spawned the most. As the duo walked toward the park—phones, chargers, keys, and supplies in hand—Merlin reflected on how he got addicted to this mobile game.

It had all started about a year ago when Gwen screamed about catching a Charmander. They were hanging out one day and Gwen was rambling about some new game that had come out. Merlin had played his share of Pokémon growing up, but with school and work—he hardly found time to play videogames. Yet that one night—which _may_ have included some drunken screaming from Gwen at Merlin trying to aim his Pokeball at a Bulbasaur—somehow spurred a new hobby for Merlin and his friends.

Gwen, like most times, was the heart of their friend group. She was the one who had originally downloaded the mobile app to check out the “hottest” new game. And like her infectious smile, Gwen’s fervor for the game inspired their group to download the game as well. First it was Lance being a supportive boyfriend for Gwen (and so she could get more stardust and experience points to level up her Pokémon). Some of their other friends started noticing how addicted Lance, Merlin and Gwen were to the game. Freya, their local animal enthusiast, found the game to be endearing. She made it her mission to catch the most bad-ass Pokémon. Will, Merlin’s childhood friend, acted nonchalant as if he wasn’t constantly spinning Pokestops to get more items. Perhaps the most surprising addition to their group was Elyan, Gwen’s brother. Normally, he stayed to himself—quietly making comments or jokes here and there. Merlin noticed that Elyan and Lance had grown to be pretty close friends which probably made Gwen happy. Somehow, their small group had added in the Pokémon Go game to their group and their lives hadn’t been the same ever since.

Merlin couldn’t decide what was more fun for him: community day or group raids. On one hand, there were the monthly community days. Those days offered very high spawn rates for certain Pokémon. Like today—one of Merlin’s favorite Pokémon was featured. It was Abra, this psychic fox-like Pokémon. The community day also offered higher shiny rates for the Pokémon. Normally, there was about a 1 in 450 chance to encounter a shiny version of a Pokémon. During community day, the “shiny rate” increased to about a 1 in 25 chance. That nearly guaranteed a few copies of the featured shiny Pokémon.

Then there were group raids. At certain locations, there would be Pokémon Gyms. Randomly, a Pokémon would appear as the raid boss. The stronger, cooler Pokémon (like Merlin’s prized Mewtwo) often required multiple players to take down. Luckily for Merlin—he had Gwen, Lance, Freya, Will and Elyan. Even better for Merlin—the group had become “best friends” in the game. After spending a few months of playing with each other—they earned the “best friend” in the game. That helped them deal more damage to bosses in the raids. It also helped them get more experience points along the way to level up so they could strengthen their Pokémon.

Both were as fun as each other, Merlin finally decided. Before the lanky man could delve deeper into his thoughts, a familiar voice broke him out of his trance:

“Finally!” Will’s feigned annoyed voice reached out to Merlin and Gwen. Freya, Lance, Will and Elyan were all waiting by their designated meeting spot at the park. They stood around as if prepped for a battle—except instead of swords and armor, they had water bottles, cords for their chargers, and their most comfortable phone case. Running forward, Gwen moved closer to Lance as they gave each other a brief kiss and hug. Elyan always looked away, although any discomfort wasn’t apparent on his face. It was probably just weird, in general, to see his friend kissing his sister.

“Sorry, my room tried to eat my charger again.” Merlin shrugged. Will chortled as he clapped Merlin’s shoulder.

“Well, the events s’pposed to start soon.” Will replied as the group walked toward the nearest Pokestop. It was a tennis court. “I bet I’ll get the first shiny this time.”

“You always say that.” Freya chuckled. “I think Gwen and Elyan have the lucky gene.” Merlin laughed at that comment. It was slightly true—Gwen and Elyan nearly always got the best stats for their Pokémon.

“That’s not true!” Gwen protested although she looked more amused than anything. Elyan quietly laughed at the back in the group.

“Gwen, it is certainly uncanny that you got a shundo that one time.” Elyan pointed out. Gwen blushed as Lance laughed out loud at Elyan’s observation. A “shundo” as Elyan had pointed out was a shiny version of a Pokémon with perfect attack, HP, and defense stats.

“And Gwen also snagged the most noble boyfriend ever.” Merlin rolled his eyes. Lance’s immediate blush didn’t escape his notice. While Merlin would never tell anyone else, he was definitely infatuated with Lance when they first met. But Merlin would be damned if he could find another couple as well-suited for each other as Gwen and Lance. In a way, they were the “parents” of their friend group. Gwen always checked up on everyone. Lance was quite possibly the most supportive presence around, even when he was quiet.

“Hey, I thought I was the most noble one here! I told you all that my dad found out that he was related to some knight back in the middle ages or something.” Will retorted. Merlin rolled his eyes again at Will’s assertion.

“Before we delve deeper into Will’s ancestry,” Lance gracefully cut into their chatter, “I suggest we get our apps open. It’s about to be eleven o’clock.” Like a knight commanding his squadron, the group quickly pulled out their phones and booted up the game.

“Here we go! First person to find a shiny gets to decide where we eat later!” Gwen proposed. Merlin made it his personal mission to make sure Freya didn’t win again. For a petite girl, she had a thing for rare meat which was not Merlin’s favorite dish.

“God forbid we get salmonella again.” Will mumbled, prompting Merlin to let out a few surprised chuckles. Freya probably gave the boys a glare but they were distracted by the sounds of multiple Abras spawning by them. As if silently communicating, the group started tapping their screen and throwing Pokeballs at the nearby Pokémon.

The group had decided on their path. They would start at the tennis courts then move to the racquetball court. After that Pokestop, they would migrate toward the basketball court and the playground. Once they finished up there, they would go toward the dog park and then head down to the lake.

About ten minutes in, no one had caught a shiny yet. Their record as a group was four minutes. It was Lance during the Piplup event a few months ago. Merlin decided to stock up on the Abra candy he obtained from catching Abras. He could level up a few of them so that he would have some strong Psychic types during the next group raid.

Distracted by his phone, Merlin walked forward. He knew the park like the back of his hand after spending hours with his friends spinning Pokestops. What Merlin didn’t expect was to run into a tree—or what he thought was a tree in the middle of the road.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going, you moron!” A voice yelled at Merlin as he jumped back and nearly stumbled over his own feet. Merlin had been so caught up in trying to find a shiny Abra that he hadn’t noticed that he moved away from his group on his way to walk toward the racquetball court.

“Arthur, be nice!” A dark-haired girl chided the blond man in front of Merlin. Embarrassed, Merlin tucked his phone back into his pocket and started to apologize until the dark-haired girl spoke up again. “Wait a moment—are you here for Abra?”

“Morgana, I thought we weren’t—” Arthur, the built blond man sighed. Morgana moved past Arthur and their group of friends as she made her way toward Merlin.

“I’m Morgana!” Morgana extended her hand out. “I started playing only a few months ago. I need to add some more friends for the Mew quest, I think. What’s your friend code?” Merlin was a bit shell-shocked by how forward and brash this girl was. Behind her, Arthur scoffed and shook his head. Merlin wouldn’t say this out loud, but _man_ Arthur was handsome. He did not seem like the type to be spending his Saturday afternoon playing Pokémon Go. Then again—neither did Elyan or Lance.

“Uh, I can pull it up. I’m Merlin, by the way.” Merlin sheepishly replied as he withdrew his phone from his pocket. “Here, you scan my QR code.”

“Thanks!” Morgana smiled. As she aimed her camera at Merlin’s phone, she made a motion to peer behind him. Merlin guessed that the rest of his group were catching up to him and they were probably curious about who Merlin was talking to in the middle of the park.

“More friend codes!” Morgana exclaimed as Merlin turned behind him. Gwen, Lance, Will, Freya, and Elyan all appeared from the sidewalk.

“Oh great, here she goes. Gwaine, it was a mistake introducing Morgana to the game.” Arthur bemoaned. He gave Merlin a quick glance before walking away to his group of friends. Merlin counted three other guys. One was pretty composed with long, curly hair and a scruffy beard. He had an inviting presence. Another guy was more built than Arthur. He had something close to a buzz-cut although his wide smile reminded Merlin of Gwen’s warm smile. The final guy had a bit of scruff and a mischievous smirk on his face. Based on Arthur’s movements, Merlin guessed that the mischievous one was Gwaine.

Merlin was glad that no one could hear his thoughts because _damn_ he didn’t expect to see a group of hot guys playing Pokémon Go.

“You know, I could teach you some cool ways to shoot a curveball.” Merlin was distracted again by Will’s voice. He noticed Will flirting with Morgana. In response, Morgana was either oblivious or blatantly ignoring Will’s advances. Given how strikingly beautiful she looked—Merlin guessed that she was used to men flirting with her.

“Shut up, Will.” Freya scoffed. Sometimes she reminded Merlin of a dragon hiding in a small girl’s body.

“I’m Lance, by the way.” Lance introduced himself. “This is Gwen, my girlfriend. This is Elyan, her brother. This is Will, Freya, and Merlin.” Morgana’s eyes darted from each person in the group as she took in the information. Before she replied, Morgana flipped her hair back and turned to the group of guys around Arthur.

“Hey, boys! Come here!” Morgana commanded before she turned back to Gwen and Lance. “I’m Morgana. This is my brother, Arthur, and his lackeys—Leon, Percy, and Gwaine.” Merlin matched the names to the men. Leon was the friendly, scruffy one. Percy was the built one. Gwaine was the winking one. And then there was Arthur—the exasperated one.

“Enough talking!” Arthur chided. “If you didn’t remember, it’s supposed to storm later today. I need a 3 star shiny Alakazam.”

“God forbid the Princess doesn’t get what he wants.” Gwaine chuckled.

“Are you all headed to the racquetball court?” Gwen asked, pointing to the nearby court. Morgana glanced at the boys before replying to Gwen.

“Now we are.” Morgana smiled widely as she walked alongside Gwen and Lance, talking about something. Merlin lingered to the back with Will and Freya as they continued to tap and check each Abra that spawned on their screen. No one had caught a shiny yet and it was nearly 30 minutes into the event.

The newly formed larger group walked together, colored by discrete conversations occurring simultaneously. Merlin swore he felt a raindrop, but it was probably just his imagination since no one else seemed to feel anything.

Walking with the group and eavesdropping on the multiple conversations, Merlin was surprised to realize how nerdy the athletic looking guys were. On one hand, Merlin shouldn’t have been surprised given how Lance looked like a model and Elyan looked like an actor and they both were incredibly nerdy. From the snippets Merlin heard, he figured out that Gwaine had told Morgana about their monthly “bro” sessions that were actually community day gatherings. Thus, Morgana insisted on joining them since she found the Pokémon to be cute. Surprisingly, Morgana was nearly caught up to the group—she had earned massive amounts of experience points over the last few months.

Somehow, the groups had blended together. Suddenly, Gwaine was flirting with Freya, unknowing that the girl would probably bite his head off (not literally, of course). Percy, Elyan, and Leon were talking about something that sounded like gym routines. Will was bragging to Morgana, Lance, and Gwen about his “noble” lineage. That somehow left Arthur and Merlin to their own devices.

Arthur seemed determined to catch a shiny Abra. He was quiet, compared to the group. He would make a comment here or there, but he was mostly cursing under his breath for every non-shiny Abra he encountered. Merlin, on the other hand, was distracting himself with finding a shiny Abra as well.

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a loud yell that startled Merlin. Looking up from his phone, Merlin saw Will cheering loudly.

“I FOUND A SHINY ONE!” Will yelled as he shoved his phone in everyone’s face. Merlin blanched. Will was probably going to pick some greasy fast-food restaurant that would give Merlin food poisoning.

“Of fucking course he did.” Arthur swore under his breath as he tapped on another Abra. Merlin almost laughed when he heard Arthur swear again at the presence of a non-shiny Abra. With Arthur’s whispered curses, the group’s lucky suddenly turned. As if their shiny drought was over, suddenly everyone was finding a shiny Abra or two. Merlin groaned when he noticed that his Abra’s had some pitiful stats. It was pretty bad. Arthur didn’t seem to have much better luck, given his furrowed brow.

Gwaine, on the other hand, was showing off his 3-star shiny Abra. A “3-star” Pokémon meant that it was at least in the top 20% in its stat distribution. Merlin usually kept the strongest versions of his Pokémon. Still, Merlin had his 2-star Bulbasaur that was the first Pokémon he had caught. The group continued to chatter among themselves. Merlin found himself engaged in an exhilarating conversation with Gwaine about how the football player used Pokémon puns to pick up people at the bar.

“I told this one bloke,” Gwaine mentioned, “that I would love to Pikachu without your pants.” Merlin nearly laughed at how _awful_ that pun was. Yet Merlin wasn’t surprised to hear that it worked.

“Yo, I’m copying that the next time we go out to the bar.” Will announced. Freya whispered something along the lines of how dumb that line was, but no one seemed to pay her much attention when Morgana let out a loud scream.

“Look! A shiny Seviper!” Morgana exclaimed. Merlin’s jaw dropped. That was unexpected. Merlin remembered reading that the shiny rate for a non-community day Pokémon was nearly a 0.22% chance. Morgana was definitely lucky.

Arthur seemed to be torn between being happy for Morgana and being envious, based on the twisted smile on his face. Luckily, everyone was crowing around Morgana and thus no one seemed to notice Arthur’s face.

“I’m going to go check out the lake.” Arthur spoke to no-one in particular. “I caught a few shinies last time there.” Merlin wasn’t sure why Arthur was stepping away from the group, but he was sure that the playground was closer than the lake. Merlin watched Arthur distance himself gradually from the group as they continued exclaiming over their shinies (and lack of shinies).

“I’m so glad Arthur got us into this game.” Gwaine chortled. “It’s quite addicting.” Gwaine had been in the middle of describing how Pokémon had helped him get laid, which was slightly disturbing (but amusing) to Merlin. Will stared at Gwaine as if Gwaine was his long-lost hero.

“And yet you still manage to find a way to include your constant comments.” Percy teased as Gwaine flicked him off, flipping his middle finger toward the other man.

“At least we figured out where Arthur was disappearing to.” Leon shrugged as he lazily flicked a Pokeball at his second shiny Abra.

“What do you mean?” Gwen replied, her curiosity piqued by Leon’s comment. Morgana glanced at the group of boys before turning to face Gwen. Merlin could guess that Morgana and Gwen would get along. Gwen, as much as she tried to hide it, loved to hear gossip. Morgana seemed to be similar. Lance had his arm wrapped around Gwen’s waist as he tried to act like he wasn’t interested in hearing the elaboration.

“Like a year ago, Arthur would bail on plans once a month. We didn’t notice it at first.” Gwaine explained flippantly. “I was on a running date with this broad when I caught Arthur at this park.” Merlin wondered if he had run into Arthur before—after all, he utilized this park quite often for spinning Pokestops.

“What was his excuse? Something about racquetball, right?” Percy laughed. “I don’t think Arthur knows how to play racquetball.” That comment surprised Merlin, given how athletic all the men appeared. As if reading Merlin’s mind, Percy then added onto his comment: “Now, that’s not to say that Arthur goes sicko mode during rugby matches. But racquetball? That’s not Arthur’s style.”

“So wait—what was Arthur doing here in the park then?” Gwen cocked her head, interested in this story. Merlin figured that as the original one to play Pokémon Go in their friend group, Gwen was interested in how Arthur got their group to join in on the festivities. It had been only a year or so since Gwen and Merlin had started the game as well.

“Well, Gwaine grilled it out of him.” Leon elaborated. “Turned out that Arthur was into Pokémon Go. It wasn’t a surprise. Growing up, we would spend our sleepovers playing Pokémon Stadium and stuff.”

“How erotic.” Morgana teased, earning a candid laugh from Freya.

“Yeah, he’s really into the game.” Leon continued to explain. “Well, Arthur’s just competitive in general. When he sees something he wants, like a consecutive win, he gets it.”

“Hey, look!” Elyan interrupted Leon. “Someone put a lure back near the racquetball court. That must be attracting a ton of Pokémon.” Will motioned for the group to follow him and Elyan to the racquetball court. Morgana turned toward the lake where Arthur was. She started to say something, although Merlin swore again that he felt another raindrop.

“I can go grab Arthur.” Morgana sighed. “He’ll probably end up lost in the park, despite spending his weekends here.”

“Uh, I can go grab him.” Merlin wasn’t sure where his voice appeared from, but he was as surprised as Morgana when he uttered those words. “I mean, I already caught a few shinies and I got a few good ones.” Merlin was lying since most of his shiny Abras were not even 1-star. Something about the handsome man made Merlin want to talk to him, even if he sounded like a jerk during some moments.

“Oh…” Morgana gave Merlin a stare as if she was trying to read his mind. “Sure. That’ll give me more time to take down the Valor gym here.”

“Hey! I just put my Pokémon there!” Will exclaimed.

“All the more reason for Morgana to kick it out.” Freya winked. Merlin took that distraction to start walking away from the group to find Arthur and let him know about the lure. As he walked farther away from the group, Merlin found himself thinking more and more about Arthur. The blond seemed like the type to bully him or boss him around if they were classmates. Yet, Arthur somehow had a nerdy side that liked Pokémon? Merlin supposed it wasn’t that odd. After all—a bunch of guys liked videogames. Merlin wasn’t that big of a fan of those first person shooter games, but Will, Elyan and Lance really enjoyed them. Merlin used those times to gossip with Freya and Gwen as they watched.

As Merlin approached the lake and the silhouette of Arthur, he cleared his throat. He wasn’t sure why he felt nervous around the man. Merlin chalked it up to the fact that he wasn’t used to being around strangers—especially attractive strangers.

“Hey!” Merlin called out, a bit dismayed that Arthur didn’t seem to react. “We’re all heading back to the racquetball court. Someone put up a lure there.” Merlin wasn’t sure if Arthur didn’t hear him or if he was ignoring him, so Merlin continued approaching the blond. Once he got closer, he saw Arthur swearing at his phone.

“I don’t think the Abras will appreciate you swearing at them. That’s probably why the 3-star shiny is hiding from you.” Merlin teased. Arthur’s face shot up from his phone as he glanced at Merlin. He looked like he wanted to say something but before he could—a loud clap of thunder spread across the sky and rain started to pour down.

“Fuck!” Arthur swore. Merlin panicked, realizing that in his rush to find his portable charger and leave the house—he didn’t bring an umbrella. From Arthur’s frustrated grumbling, it seems like the blond didn’t pack one either.

“Hey, over here! There’s a shed with a hanging roof nearby. I think the park maintenance people use it to store their equipment.” Merlin beckoned Arthur over to a shoddy building in the horizon. It wasn’t super close, but it was closer than where the group was. Merlin tried to look past the pounding rain to see if he could make out any figures, but he decided to press on toward the shed. Surprisingly, Arthur followed him silently as they ran to protect themselves from the rain.

“Is your phone okay?” Merlin asked as they finally reached the shed. It wasn’t complete protection from the rain as some of the splash impact still wet them. But it was better than being stranded out in the middle of the park with no umbrella.

“Yeah.” Arthur grunted. “Yours?”

“Yup, fine!” Merlin waved his functional phone. He sighed as he tapped an Abra only to see that it wasn’t shiny.

“I can’t believe I forgot an umbrella.” Arthur grumbled. “I should text Morgana to drive and pick us up.” Merlin tried to avoid gawking at Arthur’s handsome features as he ran a hand through his dampened golden hair.

“She seems like she’s the type to just let you stand in the rain as punishment for annoying her.” Merlin tried to joke. Surprisingly, Arthur let out a small chuckle and some words that sounded like ‘you aren’t wrong.’ With some increased confidence, Merlin kept the conversation going as he tapped another Abra on his screen.

“You know, your friends were talking some mad shit about you.” Merlin teased. Arthur looked up from his screen and stared at Merlin with confusion clear on his face. Gosh, did the man know that he looked like a prince from a fairytale? It made Merlin weak in his knees. “Yeah, something about you hiding from them about your Pokémon Go obsession.” For some reason that Merlin didn’t understand, Arthur started to blush and look back at his phone screen as if it was the most important thing in his life.

“It’s not weird, by the way.” Merlin kept on talking which he did when he was nervous. He probably picked up on the habit from Gwen. “I mean, you see Lance and Elyan. They look like models or something and they play a bunch of video games.”

“Lance is dating Gwen, right?” Arthur spoke slowly as he tried to accurately recall their names. Merlin internally scoffed. He wasn’t surprised that someone as attractive as Arthur would be interested in someone as attractive as Gwen.

“Yeah. And Elyan’s her brother.” Merlin repeated what Lance had said earlier.

“Nice group of friends.” Arthur shrugged.

“Your friends are funny, too.” Merlin smiled. “I like how they were so concerned with you bailing on plans once a month. What made you start playing Pokémon Go, anyways?”

“Uh.” Arthur paused as he threw a Pokeball at an Abra on his screen. “Well, I…I quite like Pokémon.”

“Yeah, Leon mentioned that you guys spent your sleepovers playing Pokémon Stadium for the N64. Morgana called it erotic.” Merlin repeated the conversation. For some reason that made Arthur choke and start coughing uncontrollably.

“She said _what_?” Arthur wheezed as if he was in pain. Arthur’s dramatic reaction dampened Merlin’s fervor for the blond. Was he so homophobic that he couldn’t take a gay joke? Merlin was a bit surprised given how brash Gwaine was.

“Yeah, when we were talking about how you would fake on your friends to come to the park to play Pokémon Go. They said something about you lying about playing racquetball and they said that you probably didn’t even know how to play racquetball.”

“I know how to play racquet—that’s not the point.” Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose. “They’re quite a chatty bunch, aren’t they?”

“They’re funny.” Merlin shrugged. “It’s also cool finding other Pokémon Go players.” Merlin noticed that the rain was still coming down hard. Had Arthur texted Morgana yet? Deciding to keep the conversation going, Merlin kept on talking as if he was channeling Gwen’s energy.

“I started playing like a year ago when Gwen started playing. We actually came to this park, too, to spin Pokestops and catch Pokémon and do our daily research quests.” Merlin rambled. For some reason, Arthur’s ears turned a bit pink. Maybe he was cold? It was pretty warm, despite the rain.

“Oh! They mentioned you started playing a year ago, too.” Merlin casually said. “I wonder if we ever crossed paths with you—Gwen and I, I mean.” Arthur turned to his phone again and sighed as he mumbled ‘not shiny’ under his breath.

“You talk a lot.” Arthur finally commented which shut Merlin up. Man—Merlin figured it was true that someone could be gorgeous on the outside and an asshole on the inside.

“Okay, well at least I don’t lie to my friends about my hobbies.” Merlin wasn’t sure if that was a low blow. His retort did catch Arthur’s attention.

“…I have seen you and Gwen here, before.” Arthur mumbled after a few awkward moments of silence. This caught Merlin off guard as he leaned against the wood of the shed. He couldn’t recall seeing Arthur—and he was sure that he would have noticed someone as handsome as Arthur.

“Oh.” Merlin wasn’t sure what to do with this information.

“I like walking around this park.” Arthur sighed as he moved his head back to lay against the wood of the shed. “My mom used to take me to this park.” Merlin guessed that Arthur’s mom wasn’t in the picture anymore based on his words.

“I don’t really remember my dad. He left when my mom was pregnant.” Merlin commented, hoping that his ability to somewhat relate to Arthur would help.

“That’s fucked up.” Arthur commented, prompting Merlin to chuckle a bit by Arthur’s brutal honesty.

“Yeah, well I like this park. Gwen and I would come out here and hang out whenever the weather was nice.” Merlin wasn’t sure what the point of his comment was, but he figured it was better than just listening to the rain hit the ground. “You know, your friends said you were competitive. Something about seeing something you want and making sure you get it. Is that true?” Merlin glanced at Arthur and internally sighed. How was it fair that the blond had a _perfect_ jawline?

That quip made Arthur smile which warmed Merlin’s heart. Arthur turned his head to face Merlin directly as he nodded in agreement.

“My friends actually said something smart, for once.” Arthur replied, continuing to stare at Merlin. His direct gaze made Merlin blush and prompted him to look back at his phone. “I am competitive and when I see something I want, I make it my mission to get it.”

“Is that a pick-up line you use, like Gwaine’s stupid Pokémon puns?” Merlin chuckled nervously. Arthur’s direct gaze at him wasn’t going by unnoticed.

“Not really, _Mer_ lin.” Arthur sighed. “It is a good way to describe how I operate.” Merlin couldn’t explain it but the way Arthur said his name was kinda hot.

“Uh-huh.” Merlin continued to look away from Arthur’s intense gaze.

“In fact, I’m _so_ competitive.” Arthur moved a bit closer to Merlin. “I’m _so_ competitive that I find a way to win at everything I do. Whether it’s Pokémon Stadium or it’s finding a way to talk to an attractive person I see at the park.”

Merlin froze. What was Arthur insinuating? Mustering the courage to look up at Arthur’s hardened gaze, Merlin knitted his eyebrows in confusion.

“W-What do you mean?” Merlin cocked his head.

“I think I was pretty clear, _Mer_ lin.” Arthur finally looked away as he returned to staring at the rain. “I always have to win. And sometimes to win, you gotta think outside the box. So when I saw this cute rambling mess of a person at the park playing Pokémon Go—I knew I had to start playing it in order to impress them.” Merlin felt his heart jump to his throat. So Arthur was only playing Pokémon Go to impress someone? There went Merlin’s fantasies of Arthur turning out to be gay and proposing to him.

“Wow, that’s…dedication.” Merlin replied dryly. “I’m sure she was flattered by your dedication to Pokémon Go.”

“I don’t know. Would you be impressed by that?” Arthur returned to making Merlin uncomfortable with his bold gaze. The gears in Merlin’s head started to turn as he started to pick up the pieces…

_“Like a year ago, Arthur would bail on plans once a month. We didn’t notice it at first.” Gwaine explained flippantly. “I was on a running date with this broad when I caught Arthur at this park.”_

_“Lance is dating Gwen, right?” Arthur spoke slowly as he tried to accurately recall their names._

_“…I have seen you and Gwen here, before.” Arthur mumbled after a few awkward moments of silence._

It all made sense to Merlin, now. Arthur was playing Pokémon Go to impress Gwen. It wouldn’t be the first time a guy went to some far lengths to impress Gwen. For some reason though, Merlin couldn’t help but feel a bit resentful. Gwen already had the perfect Lancelot in her life. Now she had this beautiful man admiring her, too? Gosh—Merlin would do anything to trade his oversized ears or his lanky body or his weirdly shaped face to look more like Gwen.

“Guinevere.” Merlin sighed. “Gwen, I mean. She’s dating Lance. She’s happy with him.” Merlin couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice. Was this all a ploy then? Arthur “runs” into Merlin at the park so that he could impress Gwen? As if confirming his suspicions, Arthur let out a hearty laugh.

“For a nerd, you’re pretty dumb, _Mer_ lin.” Arthur chuckled. Merlin glared at him. What Merlin didn’t expect was for Arthur to suddenly move even closer to him and then cup his face in his hands.

“I was playing Pokémon Go to impress _you_.” Arthur confessed, shocking Merlin with his words. “I saw _you_ at the park a year ago and overheard _you_ playing Pokémon Go with your friend. You were talking about how amazing it was to catch some shiny versions of those dumb monsters.”

“T-They…t-they aren’t dumb.” Merlin whispered. Arthur paused before laughing again, his warm breath making Merlin flush.

“ _That’s_ your response to my confession?” Arthur smiled. “I can’t believe I’ve spent a year trying to get your attention by collecting the strongest Pokémon only for you to be so oblivious.” Merlin felt his head spinning. This couldn’t be happening. This intensely handsome man could _not_ be telling Merlin that he was going to such far lengths to impress him. Arthur looked like he could have _any_ guy he wanted—and yet _he_ was trying to impress _Merlin_? Merlin—who drank tea and snuggled with his weighted blanket to read books? Merlin—who obsessively played Pokémon Go with his friends?

“I…Is this a joke?” Merlin spoke in a low voice—so low that he wasn’t sure if Arthur even heard him. This seemed to push Arthur away as he took a step backwards. Merlin inwardly prepared for the ‘haha you felt for it’ comment coming his way.

“Do you really think that lowly of yourself?” Arthur scoffed. “Merlin, I’m trying to tell you that I want to take you out on a date. I’m trying to tell you that I spent a good part of a year catching these blasted creatures so that one day I could impress you. I’m trying to tell you that I, Arthur Pendragon, want to take you, Merlin, out on a date.”

Merlin didn’t know what to say. This _had_ to be dream. He was the geek. He wasn’t supposed to have Prince Charming chase after _him_.

“You know, I can’t tell if I like you better when you’re stunned or when you’re rambling.” Arthur teased.

“I…I just…you’re _you_. You’re really hot, Arthur.” Merlin cleared his throat. “And I—I mean, I have a weighted blanket and I have a stuffed dragon that I sleep with.” Arthur let out a groan as he placed his forehead against the shed.

“Fuck, Merlin.” Arthur sighed. “You’re fucking adorable.”

“I…” Merlin wasn’t sure what to say. As if taking the words from his mouth, Arthur swooped in and took Merlin’s lips against his own. Merlin was shocked to feel the man’s warm breath against his own lips. Merlin panted a bit as he could feel Arthur’s calloused hands caress his face as he brought Merlin closer to make it easier to move their lips against each other.

When they finally broke their kiss, Merlin gazed at Arthur as if he was the Prince Charming of his fairytale. This was easily the _best_ community day ever—and Merlin hadn’t even caught a strong shiny Abra. Returning Merlin’s smile, Arthur gazed lovingly at the other man as he moved his hand to grab Merlin’s hand.

Merlin inwardly always had believed in magic. He never figured that the magic words would have actually been Abra Kadraba Alakazam.

Gwaine would probably have been proud of that god-awful Pokémon pun.


End file.
